"Hewitt, the pension-reforming former mayor of tiny Calimesa, California, who now represents 438,000 constituents, starts off the message from America's third-largest party by reciting piles of contextual good news that "you won't hear in the torrent of doom and gloom from our nation's capital'.... But ... the mood does turn darker. 'Our national debt has skyrocketed to almost $22 trillion.... [H]undreds of thousands are behind bars for no just reason at all... Our sons and daughters have been deployed to far-flung, never-ending wars without constitutional authorization.'

"And on the political conflict du jour, Hewitt comes out foursquare in favor of immigration.... 'The prohibition of immigration requires an extensive apparatus for mass surveillance and government intrusion into our daily lives. Libertarians say: The United States should welcome immigrants.'"